Blood, Lead, and Survival
by Echo2505
Summary: Follow the adventures of Private First Class Jacob DeGarmo as well as his friends Private Mateo Martinez and Corporal Natalie Thorburn as they and the rest of 7th squad are sent from the ship Destruction of Hope on a mission to accompany a research team to the surface of a planet that holds infinite possibilities for the small squad of marines.
1. Arrival

Author's Note:

Welcome to the world of Blood, Lead, and Survival which takes place in the late-mid human covenant war, centering around one marine, his close friends, and his squad and their various adventures throughout the remainder of the war. This is indeed my first time writing, but, however, I am not afraid of criticism, so fire away! If you have any suggestions/ideas you wish to share with me, please private message me through the provided platform. Most stories of mine will be updated weekly or bi-weekly unless a specific time is rather turbulent. Hope you enjoy this story, hopefully there will be more in the future.

The platoon commander stood at the very front of the room, hair shaven down well below regulation standards, regularly gesturing to the board beside him. Jacob DeGarmo watched him intently from the back corner of the room. He and the rest of 7th squad were to be deployed within the next two or three hours to the surface of a planet believed to hold tactical and strategic significance to the UNSC. Their mission was to set up and guard a firebase as well as a research center to run various diagnostics on the planet and its surroundings. As the presentation drew to a close, Jacob internalized the geographical features being read and shown on the board, _Hill 1, Hill 2, Hill 3, river, valley, rock outcropping_ \- he paused as he neared the last feature - _and the dropzone_. The dropzone was dead center in the middle of a grass plain with sparse cover around it. Seeing this, one of his close friends, Private Mateo Martinez leaned over and whispered, "Looks like the logistics team hasn't heard of a word called 'cover'. Right man?". Jacob tilted his head slightly and said in a hushed yet incredibly sarcastic voice, "Whaddya mean Mateo? There's so much cover, you could hide Natalie's _entire ego_ in there!". An elbow shot out from the seat next to him and jabbed him in the ribcage. "That's _Corporal Thorburn_ to you, asshole", Natalie jokingly whispered.

The presentation ended shortly after, everyone filing off into their respective squads. Jacob, Mateo, and Natalie slowly made their way towards the leader of 7th squad, Sergeant Ryleigh Duval. The trio walked over and made sure to salute Sgt. Duval, as she was notorious for being one of the more strict squad leaders. "Alright 7th squad," Sgt. Duval said, "you all have five minutes of free time before you gear up and regroup in hangar 8, pad 21. I expect everyone to be on time, this means you, Lance Corporal Fierro." Heads turned to face the young, reckless marine. "Yeah, come on Nolan!", Jacob playfully jabbed. Sgt. Duval interjected, "Enough, DeGarmo. You marines know what I expect, nothing but the best. Squad dismissed."

Jacob, Mateo, and Natalie walked along the long hallway in the direction of the armory, Natalie in the front and Jacob and Mateo behind. "Really man? I thought the movie was waaaay better than the book", Mateo practically screamed. "Come on, everyone knows the book was better!" "What? The book was just written better!" said Jacob and Natalie at the same time. They reached the armory and Natalie, being a corporal, split off to take command of her fireteam. Mateo and Jacob made their way to find corporal Jordan Bousaid, their fireteam leader. Jordan and Mateo both grabbed assault rifles, and Jacob grabbed his signature DMR. Across the room he could see fireteam 1, lead by corporal Liam Owens, which contained PFC Brooklyn Macey, who was rather shy and introverted, Pvt. William Corey, who was also mildly introverted, and of course Lance Corporal Nolan Fierro, toting the usual SAW. Halfway to the hangar fireteam 1 and Jacob's fireteam (fireteam 2) met up with fireteam 3, which happened to be lead by Natalie Thorburn. Under her command were PFC Owen Church, a very introverted and very young marine, who spoke rarely and zoned out often, PFC Skylar Klossner, the tough woman of the team who could beat pretty much anything into a pulp, and last but not least, pvt. Avery Holzmann. Avery was the squad sniper who spent much of her not-so-copious free time reading old magazines or random books from the ship's library. Naturally, the Mateo, Jacob, and Natalie trio wanted to include Avery, but she usually stayed away from them, telling others behind their backs that they were too "rambunctious" for her taste. The entirety of 7th squad save for Sgt. Duval made their way into hangar 8 and up to pad 21 where a battle-ready pelican as well as Sgt. Duval awaited them. "Alright marines", started Sgt. Duval, "you got most of what you need to know back in the briefing room. All I need to tell you is when we touch down, we and 12th squad are in charge of securing the drop zone during and after the setup of the FOB. Any questions?". The marines were silent except for a few shakes of the head or replies of "No, sir". "Good" Sgt. Duval bellowed, "Move it on out, marines!"

The pelican shook as it entered the atmosphere, gently rattling and swaying like a light boat ride. The marines were mostly silent, save for Fierro, who was making odd guttural noises whenever the ship trembled. A few minutes later, Duval gave the command that they were nearing the DZ. 7th squad stood up, lining up in decreasing number according to fireteam. The pelican jerked upwards sharply, signaling that they had arrived. The ramp lowered to the ground, softly thumping down in the thick grass. First out was Owens, Fierro, Macey, and Corey of fireteam 1, followed by Busaid, Jacob, and Mateo of fireteam 2, then Natalie, Church, Klossner, and Avery Holzmann from fireteam 3 with Sgt. Duval being last off the ramp. The three fireteams stopped for a moment, letting Duval retake the lead. Each marine carefully surveyed the pristine landscape. To the east and west were tall, snow capped mountain ranges, leading to a break in the north, where there appeared to be a small shimmering lake stretching off into the distance. 7th squad's view of the south was abruptly cut off by the pelican of 12th squad as well as 13th squad, who were there as an extra security measure. The engineers and scientists arrived a few minutes later after the all clear signal was given, dropping their firebase/research center in the middle of the semicircle of pelicans. In the middle of soaking in their surroundings, a message came through on the comlink, " _Destruction of Hope_ to all ground forces at research base 01; a small covenant patrol is heading your way from the south, send a team to neutralize the threat and if possible locate the source of the threat. _Destruction of Hope_ out". Due to an agreement reached just after the briefing, it was 7th squad who would be sent to deal with the threat of an enemy patrol. They all geared up and hiked a few miles south and took up defensive positions amongst a custer of boulders and trees.

"Are you guys ready?", asked Jacob in a low voice with a hint of excitement. He was holed up behind a rock with Natalie, Mateo, and Church. "Yeah man, we're gonna take 'em all out!", said Mateo who then proceeded to quietly high-five Jacob. Natalie quietly interjected, "I don't see any yet, do you guys?". Jacob looked out across the open plains before them. He scanned for a moment and did a double take when he saw a faint glimmer. He looked at it for a couple seconds before an energy sword materialized out of the air. "Active Camo!" he hollered as he fired a shot from his DMR right into where the hand would be. If he hit it right, the force of the bullet would compress the shields as well as any fingers underneath it. He must have hit it right, because a deafening roar echoed around the area and an elite appeared next to the freshly dropped energy sword. The elite was about to reach for its plasma rifle when, at Natalie's command, the assault rifle rounds of herself, Church, and Klossner came at the elite in a wave, easily overloading its shields and tearing medium sized holes in its chest, causing it to drop backwards. Upon seeing their comrade fall to the ground in a flurry of purple, five more camouflaged elites appeared, two with needlers, one with a carbine, and the other two with plasma rifles. The ensuing battle was an absolutely deafening cacophony of sounds, the steady drum of assault rifles, the sharp crack of Avery's sniper rifle, and the loud and rapid chatter of Fierro's SAW filled the air with each weapon's deadly song. A .50 caliber sniper round first hit an elite in the head, and because his shields had been degraded by a few assault rifle magazines, the round shredded its way through the elite's face, bending the metal of the helmet on its way out. Jacob focused his fire on the chest of the elite with the carbine, and with the help of Natalie, blasted away the elite's shields. Jacob's DMR rounds impacted the alien's chest, making holes in the armor run with purple blood. The elite staggered backwards, inadvertently falling upon its ally. Seeing and taking advantage of this, Fierro swiveled his gun and emptied half a magazine into the neck and head of the elite, effectively rendering it a pulp. This left two elites, who began to group together and retreat. Natalie yelled a command and Church shouldered a rocket launcher. Jacob watched as the rocket sailed from the barrel of the launcher, leaving a snowy white vapor trail as it went. The rocket slammed into the ground near the feet of the two elites, killing one and knocking the other one off its feet. The other elite made the horrible, grievous, bloody mistake of getting back up. No sooner than it had gotten to its knees than it was hit by the entirety of 7th squad. The assault rifles, Jacob's DMR, Fierro's SAW, Avery's sniper rifle, even Church's rocket launcher. The various calibers and types of ammunition slammed into the elite all at once, effectively giving the fight to the marines. Aside from a few cuts and bruises, 7th squad was fine, and returned to base. That night they received their bunking arrangements, bunked up with Owens were Fierro, Corey, and Church, with Bousaid were Macey and Klossner, and with Jacob were Martinez, Natalie, and Avery Holzmann. Duval got her own officer's quarters, but nobody was complaining. The marines ate a quick meal at the mess hall and then began to bed down for the night, wondering and dreaming what the next few weeks held.


	2. Although We May Stumble

Author's Note:

Due to the mild popularity of this story (at this time, 7 visitors) I have added another chapter. Also, just a warning, this is where it gets a little violent, emotional, and long. Enjoy your reading!

It was a game night. For Jacob, Mateo, Natalie, and Avery (who decided to join them) at least. They sat in the mess hall, crowded around a game board. The marines, scientists, and engineers alike in the mess hall with them barely paid any attention to the four, and went on eating. Mateo moved his piece two spaces forward and passed the dice to Natalie, who promptly threw them at the table, rolling two sixes. "Oh yeah!", she screamed, moving her piece twelve spaces forward, "I'm takin' Marvin Gardens, baby!" Jacob immediately slammed his fist onto the table, "Come on! This is literally the _third_ time in a row!". "Deal with it, crybaby", retorted Natalie. As the game progressed and got inevitably more intense, there was a loud crashing noise that sounded like someone threw a warthog at a scorpion. Avery looked around, "What was tha-" no sooner had she begun to talk than a mildly distressed voice came over the intercom, " _Attention all personnel; we have a security breach on the south side, I repeat; south side!_ ". Jacob, Natalie, Mateo, and Avery scrambled to meet the rest of 7th squad near the barracks, almost tripping over tables and dumped meal trays on numerous occasions. When they got there they saw Duval and part of fireteam 3. Duval approached them and said in a very loud voice, "Gear up _fast_ marines, Bousaid, Church, and Klossner are already in the south courtyard with fireteam one, meet us out there as soon as you can!". The four marines each said "Yes, sir" and continued on their way to grab their armor and weapons. All of them had gotten their usual weapons, save for Jacob. Natalie saw him staring hard at the weapons rack, almost like he was trying to summon the weapon. Natalie picked up an assault rifle and handed it to him, "Here." Jacob replied with a simple "thanks", and the four went on their way.

They rushed down the hall towards the exit and when the doors opened, were hit by a sudden tsunami of sights and sounds. Yellow and orange tracer fire crisscrossed the courtyard, along with the relatively slow glowing blobs of a fuel rod cannon, lazily floating their way to their targets and exploding with a brilliant green light. The four marines moved up into the cover of a few UNSC bast shields that were set up and began firing. Avery unslung her sniper rifle from her shoulder and squeezed off two shots at a nearby elite, one slamming into his chest and obliterating his shields, the other hitting him square in the throat, staining the grass below a deep violet purple. To her right Natalie and Mateo were focused on a group of jackals. The first jackal's shield sputtered out and died, leaving the alien soldier defenseless. Upon seeing the loss of light in her peripherals, Natalie swung her MA5 over to the jackal and let out a burst, all of the bullets finding their marks in its chest. Jacob took care of three more after baseball-hurling a grenade in the general direction, sending bits of shrapnel into other nearby covenant soldiers. 12th squad advanced and took up the west flank, providing powerful flanking fire. The 7th squad quarted of Jacob, Mateo, Natalie, and Avery fired into the center covenant formation, making it an almost complete pincer movement. Just as they were about to finish of the remaining few enemies, a soldier from 13th squad called out, "More contact! Ten O'Clock!". And sure enough, there were two elites and about ten grunts coming through some of the automated doors in the firebase.

The new covenant arrivals spread out and slowly closed in on the three squads of marines. Just then a single pelican landed on a nearby pad, narrowly dodging a fuel rod blast. "Move it on up to the helipad!", yelled the 12th squad commander. 12th squad retreated first, with 13th and 7th covering them. The pelican took off, and Jacob watched as it soared due south east. He focused his fire on a group of two grunts, effortlessly cutting them down. Just a moment after, a glimmer caught his eye. He looked up and saw a flash of green light followed by a steady orange erupt out of the tail of the pelican. "Bird down!", he screamed as he watched the ship hurl at the ground and crash on a steep mountainside. He barely had time to relish in the loss of 12th squad when even more covenant showed up, causing 13th squad to fall back to the defensive line. A few minutes and multiple casualties later, a 13th squad radioman bellowed, "We've lost communication to the _Destroyer of Hope_ , I don't think they're gonna send another bird!". Jacob looked around, no pelican in sight. "He's right", Duval said, struggling to be heard over the roar of the battle, "we need a way out of here!". Mateo ran from his cover to Jacob, Natalie, and Avery. "I have an idea, now who's got grenades?" Avery made an open palm gesture signalling she had none, Natalie turned in one, and Jacob gave him two. Mateo pulled out two of his own and laid them all on the ground in a line. He proceeded to tear off his dog tags and use the chain to tie all the pins together. Then he grabbed his dump pouch and shoveled some dirt in before laying the grenade assembly inside and covering it with dirt. He dashed back over to Duval and began explaining his plan. A few moments later Duval yelled, "Every run for the hills at our 3 O'Clock on my signal!". The marines looked at each other, confused and clueless as to what was about to happen. Jacob looked over and saw Mateo pull his dog tag chain from the dump pouch with five pins attached before Mateo threw it over the barrier. Suddenly Duval screamed, "GO!". All the marines, including the marined of 13th squad, go the message and started running towards the hillsides. An explosion rocked the courtyard, and when Jacob looked back and saw a cloud of dust hanging still in the air. "I made a smoke bomb, man!", said Mateo, who was running beside him. After a minute of two the covenant caught up, and needles, plasma, and fuel rods started coming their way. Suddenly, Owen Church turned around and yelled, "Let's give it to these covenant bas-". His cursing was abruptly cut off by the sound of Klossner and three marines from 13th squad firing alongside him. Some members of the group paused, but kept going when Klossner screamed back, "We'll cover you, go!". The rest of the group kept running, scrambling up a small outcropping of rock and heading into the treeline.

While they were running, Jacob looked back, one 13th squad marine was already down and another just took a couple needles to the chest, crumpling to the ground next to his squadmate. Natalie also stopped and turned around just as a fuel rod exploded near Klossner, knocking her to the ground. As expected she got up, a hand clutched to her side, and kept firing, only pausing to reload. Church fired his rocket launcher at a group of elites, killing every one. Jacob blinked, and when he opened his eyes there was the glowing white-pruple line of a beam rifle going right through the head of Owens. By then the other 13th squad marine was all that was left, slowly backing up the hill. Jacob saw his stop firing and look down at his weapon, which had presumably jammed or ran out of ammo. He turned and sprinted up the hill, only to be stopped in his tracks by a needle in the lower back. Initially, he stumbled a bit and kept going, but when the needle burst he completely collapsed into the grass. The battle was over. Bodies of both sides littered the hillside, but there were significantly more covenant bodies, to the five fallen marines' credit. The covenant must have given up, because they were moving back towards the firebase that now laid in smoldering ruins in the grassy plains. The group kept moving and set up camp in a small clearing, setting up tents in a small defensive ring formation. The marines retired for the night, a handful standing watch while the others slept, each squad reminiscing of their losses of the day. And each squad knowing that they would get their firebase back, one way or another.

Postscript Author's note:

Remember, comment or personal message me if you have any suggestions or advice, as I do not have any storyline set in stone. I would also appreciate the feedback so I can make this story as good as possible. New chapters should be out soon if this chapter is successful.


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